Elemental Nightmare
by Dreaming Dormouse
Summary: You've heard it before. Two kids from the real world get whisked away to Halloween Town. Only this story includes an unusual twist. Don't mind me at my bad summaries XD Chapter IX is up!
1. A Trip to the Forest

A common theory; mankind always fears what it cannot understand. This is often the supernatural like ghosts and aliens…but this features the story of two of the "mutants", but it would be much more polite to call them elementalists. Their adventure takes place in a place we never thought was real. A place that can be used as a "gothic sanctuary". A place known as Halloween Town. However, it's best to start a story with the beginning.

* * *

In a large estate in New York, a sign covered in ivy read "St. Anthony's School for the Gifted". This was preferred as "students with great talent", and this was true since most of the students had talents much more distinguished than the average human. This was a school for a race hated by all humanity, referred to as mutants. But of course, the humans merely thought it was for incredibly bright children. The students at this school had powers. The children's ages ranked from five to twenty.

In a girl's dormitory, a girl with long, dirty blonde hair lay lazily on her bed. You would almost think that she was a living anime character, due to the clothes she wore. Was a pure otaku, and was a very good anime artist. She wore an electric blue tank top with a white hood she had sewed onto it. Yep, she was that weird. She also wore a blue choker with a jeweled rainbow heart on it, along with a necklace with a silver serpent coiling around a blue and purple stone. A pair of fingerless gloves with black and electric blue stripes was up her arms from her shoulders, almost like sleeves. A pair of jeans was being held up by a blue belt with a large, silver buckle. Blue converse sneakers were on the foot of her bed. The thirteen-year-old stood up, with an impressing height of 5 foot 6 for someone her age. She opened her gray-blue eyes. Her name was Nirex.

Well, actually, it was Erin, but after reading her name backwards and adding "x" at the end, she decided that would be her name. She looked like your average, ordinary teenager, exceptionally for the fact that she had the ability to manipulate ice and freeze things. If she had enough water, she could create sculptures and weapons made of ice, and when she made them, they never melted. A dagger made of ice was tucked into one of her belt loops. She discovered this ability when she was ten; back when she couldn't control it and froze things when she touched them, but only if she was having an emotion such as fear. Thankfully, when her parents found out, they kept it a complete secret. They had heard of this mysterious school and sent her there, but it was better than being in the monotonous human world.

She was smirking, which was something she rarely did. In fact, she was rarely smiling period. For tonight was Halloween, after all. It was her favorite night of the year. The school was throwing a costume party in the gymnasium, and she had the perfect costume. She was supposed to be a gothic vampiress. Slipping on her dress, she admired it in the mirror. It consisted of a long, purple dress, which was torn near the bottom. The sleeves were black and lacy, with roses sewed within them. She fit on a black corset fastened with purple ribbons around it. She put on a black velvet choker with a purple spider on it, taking off her other choker first. Then she popped some fake fangs into her mouth and admired the finishing touch. Originally, she was going to draw blood streaks on the sides of her mouth, but she preferred not to and then just placed fake claws on her fingers. "Perfect!" she said. Then a voice came in behind her. "EWWW! Why are you dressed so gothic and scary?" it exclaimed. Erin turned around and noticed her roommate, Samantha. She had slightly tanned skin and hazel brown eyes. A white robe was worn over her pink and yellow polo, jeans, and adidas sneakers. Two fake feathery wings were on her back, and a fake gold halo was on her head. She was, as you can imagine, supposed to be an angel. "Because, doofus! It's Halloween," Erin said. Sammy cocked her pigtailed head and laughed. "It's just a holiday where you get free candy. You really overdo it!" she said, walking into her flower covered side of the room. Sammy came from a family that encouraged and brainwashed over to overdo it with being cute and sappy, not to mention dressing dorky such as wearing flowery shorts and pulling your socks up to your calves, even if they were ankle socks. She was an earth elementalist, and she and Sammy were both completely opposite, each annoying the other in some way. Erin/Nirex just shrugged, and hurried down the stairs to the gym. Noticing that it was 8:30 and the party had already started, she picked up her pace.

At the party, no one seemed to actually be dressed gothic. Most were just things like candy bars or characters from movies or TV shows. Then she smiled when she noticed Luke. He was dressed as a gargoyle. He was very short, with slightly tanned skin and dirty blonde hair. His eyes were as hazel as Sammy's. He wore jeans that were torn all over with black converse. He was a wind elementalist, having the ability to levitate things, run at the speed of sound, and temporarily fly. "Hey!" she said, running up to him. "Nirex! Finally!" said Luke, waving slightly. Grinning broadly, Erin/Nirex walked over to him. Another cool thing about Luke was that he was the only one who called Erin what she wanted to be called, which was Nirex. "Great party, huh?" she said, getting some punch, but then couldn't drink it because she had accidentally frozen it solid in the cup. "I guess, but are we the only people dressed up as monsters that aren't from a movie, TV show, or something bought a hundred percent from a costume store?" Luke asked, Now that he had mentioned it, they both realized that this was true: as the only vampires or witches they could find were all cheesy _Count Dracula_'s or the type of witches from the _Wizard of Oz. _They frowned at this slightly, seeing that everyone only seemed to care about the party and food rather than the actual part of Halloween when it's the one time of the year when you can go overboard with dressing gothic and not have any shame for it. "Yeah. Samantha dressed up as an angel." Erin said, laughing and rolling her eyes. "Typical," He agreed. "Hmm…..it's getting kind of hot in here. Want to go outside?" Luke asked Erin. "Okay!" she said. And with that, they snuck outside the gym doors and onto the school grounds.

When they got onto the porch, Luke and Erin looked up into the cloudy, full-mooned sky. Then their gazes lowered to the forest. "You know, it's funny to think that everyone always says that those who go in the forest returned completely insane or never returned at all," Erin said, laughing slightly. "If that was true, though, those were just humans who went into the woods…before the school was built. We're elementals though, so that 'cause of insanity' wouldn't affect us, and we could destroy it if we wanted to, right?" "Wait, are you asking me if we want to go in the forest?" Luke asked. "Well, if you're not, well, scared, then I was kind of hoping for a yes," Erin challenged him sheepishly. "Scared? Scared! Of course not!" said Luke. "Do you want to? I guess the classic 'enter if you dare' would work." The rare smile grew on Erin's face again. "Alright then, let's go!" she said.The two elementals entered the forest.

After what seemed like half an hour, they were completely lost, with the ever-twisting path the only thing to guide them, which seemed to turn in every direction possible. Though neither Erin nor Luke showed it in their expressions, the constant random breezes and the ground freezing around them in a small radius showed that they were getting a bit nervous. "I'm starting to see why they all lost their sanity. I can't even see the sky above these trees, so I can't fly and get a view," said Luke. "Hey, what are these?" he asked, pointing to what looked like two red stones that were in a cubic shape. Holes were on each side of them, different number of holes on different sides. Levitating them, Luke noticed that there were skulls on them. "Hey…are these…dice?" Erin said, slightly cocking her head at them. "I guess…but there's something really familiar about them. Whether it's in a good way or a bad way, I'm not really sure, though," he said. "Let's continue on. It looks like the trees are gone over there." Said Erin, pointing to what appeared to be some sort of clearing. Luke silently agreed with her, put the odd dice in his pocket, and followed her down the path. It wasn't the exit, but both of their eyes widened in awe. "Oh my God…what the hell is going on! There's no way this could be real!" Luke said. Erin was just stunned to silence.

They were surrounded by a grove of seven trees. A symbol was on each tree: a Christmas tree, heart, clover, Easter egg, symbols from all different holidays. But they both stared in awe at the one shaped like a jack-o-lantern. "Could it be…from the movie?" Erin wondered, walking towards the pumpkin tree. "Nirex, I really don't think we should..." But it was too late. Erin had already opened the pumpkin door, but they both noticed that absolutely nothing was happening. Shrugging, they both began to walk away when a strong wind began to blow. "Umm…what are you doing, Luke?" Erin asked. "It's not me…it's coming from the-" but Luke was cut off by the wind pulling them towards the pumpkin-shaped door. "I-I can't stop it!" he shouted. They were both pitched head-first into the door, and it closed behind them. The two elementalists fell through the darkness, wondering if this would be both their ends.


	2. Halloween Town

Erin and Luke fell through the darkness for what seemed like an eternity, finally landing on some sort of surface. Erin opened her eyes and felt something slam on her. "Ow!" she said pathetically. Luke opened his eyes and realized that he had fallen on Erin. "Sorry, Nirex." He said, getting off her and helping her up. They both realized that they were in one piece, but they observed their surroundings. "This…definitely doesn't look like the forest." Luke said, evening his lopsided hat.

The moon, bright and yellow, hung over them in a black, starless sky. The grass, or at least what they thought was grass, was hard and brittle, not to mention black and dead looking. They appeared to be in some sort of cemetery, only the graves were crooked and placed in completely random positions, not to mention were in odd shapes rather than the gray slabs one would normally see. Dead autumn leaves blew around them. They realized they were on a hill; only it seemed to be in the shape of a curled spiral. "Okay. There's something really familiar about that." Erin said, referring to the curled up part of the hill. As they descended down, pumpkins, or jack-o-lanterns in this case, covered the base of the hill. "Yeah…really familiar." Luke said, tripping over a pumpkin and jumped back when something white and translucent floated out of it, then vanished.

Both realizing it must have been a ghost, they slowly backed away, then picked up their pace and ran silently. After they seemed to get far away from the hill, they were on a cobble-stoned path towards a creaky gate. Then they both saw a tombstone that was ironically shaped like a doghouse. Over an engraving of a dog's head over crossbones was the word "Zero." Carved into the stone. " Zero...?" Luke murmured in awe. Suddenly, something white floated out of the stone, or at least the ground below it. The creature was much like the ghost they had seen ascend from the jack-o-lantern, only it looked more like a bunch of floating, white sheets. Its head looked somewhat like a dog's, only its nose was in the shape of a bright, glowing jack-o-lantern. Erin and Luke's eyes widened in shock. "I wonder…could that really be who I think it is?" Luke said. Zero floated up to them, growling lowly. He floated above their heads, sniffed them, and then began barking playfully. " Aww…he's even cuter in reality!" Erin said. Zero then floated towards the direction of the crooked, iron gate. "Maybe he wants us to…follow him?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow. Zero then floated towards them, growling slightly, and tugged at Luke's ankle. "I take that as a yes." Erin said, as they walked through the creaky gate.

Their eyes widened again and their jaws dropped when they saw a huge scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head on a post blow in the wind, but that wasn't what caught their attention. It was the sign stuck in its back with letters written in red paint, (or was that blood?) which read "Halloween Town". "Holy…holy…holy..." Erin couldn't even talk. They were within the realm of Jack Skellington. As they walked down a path, ghosts rose from tombstones, along with other ghastly creatures, and began chanting:

_"Boys and girls of every age,__  
__Wouldn't you like to see something strange? _

_Come with us and you will see, __  
__This, our town of Halloween _

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween, __  
__Pumpkins scream in the dead of night. _

_This is Halloween, everybody make a scene, __  
__Trick or treat till the neighbor's gonna die of fright __  
__It's our town, everybody scream! __  
__In this town of Halloween _

_I am the one hiding under your bed, __  
__Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red! _

_I am the one hiding under your stairs, __  
__Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair! _

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween,_

_Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! __  
__In this town, we call home, __  
__Everyone hail to the pumpkin song! _

At this point, Zero had lead them into the actual town, where a short, stout man was on top of some sort of car, and was chanting along with the other ghastly residents of this domain.

___In this town, don't we love it now?  
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise- _

___'Round that corner, man, hiding in the trashcan,  
Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll --_

___Scream!_

___This is Halloween!_

___Red and black!_

___Slimy green!_

___Aren't you scared?_

___Well, that's just fine  
Say it once, say it twice  
Take a chance and roll the dice  
Ride with the moon in the dead of night!_

___Everybody screams, everybody scream!_

___In our town of Halloween_

___I am the clown with the tear-away face,  
Here in a flash and gone without a trace!_

___I am the "who" when you call "Who's there?"  
I am the wind blowing through your hair!_

___I am the shadow on the moon at night,  
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright!_

___This is Halloween!_

___This is Halloween!  
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!   
Halloween! Halloween!_

___Tender lumplings everywhere,   
Life's no fun without a good scare!_

___That's our job, but we're not mean,  
In our town of Halloween_

___In this town! _

___Don't we love it now?_

___Everyone's waiting for the next surprise_

_After witnessing the other creatures, the scarecrow the two had seen at the entrance of the town was on top of a straw, wooden horse. _

_____Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back __  
__And scream like a banshee __  
__Make you jump out of your skin! __  
__This is Halloween, everybody scream! __  
__Won't ya please make way for a very special guy! _

The scarecrow then suddenly moved and grabbed a torch from a member in the crowd. It had then shoved it into what looked like the mouth of its jack-o-lantern-shaped head, setting itself on fire, and had begun dancing.

_________Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch  
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!_

_________This is Halloween!_

_________This is Halloween!  
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!_

_________In this town we call home,  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song!_

The two then noticed a fountain that was flowing with neon green water, and something about it looked contaminated. The scarecrow leapt off the horse, flipping in the air somewhat like a cat and splashing into the water.

___________La (la, la, la, la), la (la, la, la, la)  
La (Halloween), la, la (Halloween)  
La (la, la, la, la), la (la, la, la, la)  
La (Halloween), la, la (Halloween)  
La (la, la, la, la), la (la, la, la, la)  
La (Halloween), la, la (Halloween)  
La (la, la, la, la), la, la (la, la, la, la)  
La (la, la, la, la), WHEE!_

As the crowd of spooky residents began singing the last part of the song, a tall, lanky figure arose from the water of the fountain. It was unrealistically tall, probably at least six foot seven. A black suit with uneven, white pinstripes and a torn tailcoat was on this creature. A huge, bat-like bowtie was pinstriped as well. Its long, gaunt arms were folded across its chest, with a green, slimy substance that seemed to pulse on its right arm, as if it were alive. Four bony fingers were on each hand, only one finger was probably as long as Erin's hand. The head, or what was a skull in this case, had two huge, eyeless sockets rather than eyes, which could apparently blink, and its mouth had odd linings on it, as if it was stitched. Realizing that this was a skeleton, it came to Luke and Nirex that this was none other than Jack Skellington himself.

Jack walked out of the fountain. "Oh, what another, magnificent Halloween, Jack!" said the stout figure who wore a top hat so long it made him seem taller than he really was said. He had two faces, one that seemed delighted and had spirals for eyes and was extremely happy, while the other was white, pale, and upset looking. It was on the back of his head and looked asleep. They realized that this must have been the mayor. "This year's Halloween was the most horrible yet! Thank you everyone!" said Jack, whose statement was followed by applause. Even Erin and Luke absent-mindedly clapped. After a good ten minutes, when everyone was apparently enjoying refreshments and socializing, Jack was talking to the mayor about something. Erin and Luke stood unnoticed within the shadows of the crookedly built town hall. "That…that was cooler than it was in the movie!" Erin said. Luke nodded. "Still, we can't let anyone see us." Said Luke, pulling the brim of his hat over his masked eyes. "We may not be human, but anyone here could think so just by knowing we're from the human world." "Point taken." Erin replied emotionlessly. Zero then floated over to Jack, and began tugging at his ankle. "Zero, what is it boy?" he asked. Zero continued to tug at his ankles and then floated in the direction of Luke and Erin. Jack looked up, and then his eye sockets widened slightly when he saw the elementals. "Jack, Jack! Are you listening?" the Mayor asked. "Erm, please excuse me for a moment, Mayor." Jack said. The Mayor nodded and ran off to do something. Jack then smiled slightly, and then took long strides with his skinny legs towards Luke and Erin. "Crap. We've got company." Erin said, pointing to Jack. Luke just nodded, and both of them could hear their hearts pounding in their chests.


	3. Impish Spies

Disclaimer- Pretty basic stuff, Nirex and Luke are based on real people, and I don't own Halloween Town, any characters from the Nightmare Before Christmas, Spindle or Gripe. Those two are definitely making an appearance in the next chapter ;)

Luke and Nirex stood, frozen in place as Jack walked up to them. His heels clicked against the cobble-stoned ground, and that odd substance on his right arm pulsed as if were alive as he came near them. "Just great. He saw us. Now what do we do?" asked Luke, clutching his sword's hilt. "Let's just act casual and oblivious, like we don't know him." said Nirex. Luke nodded affirmatively, looking down at the ground.

"Well, hello there," Jack said, grinning a large, toothy grin full of decaying, missing teeth. (Well, what do you expect? He's a skeleton that's been dead for who knows how long!) He bent exceptionally low towards Luke, an extremely bad comparison. Luke was enough of a hobbit just standing near Erin. Now he looked like a mere insect. "I don't recall seeing you two here before, and I've seen many people," he said. Jack placed his long, bony hands beneath Erin's chin, making her look directly at him. His hands were cold and hard, not to mention there was something odd and uninviting about it. Erin tugged her face out off his grasp. "Hmm…. you don't look dead. How did you get here?" Jack asked, placing his hand on his chin, raising an eyebrow (Well, at least if he ever had one). "May I ask your names?" "Well…uh…I'm Nirex, and this is Luke." Erin stuttered, looking down at the ground. "Actually…her name's Erin. She just likes to be called that," said Luke. Erin just kicked him. "Hey! I was just stating your name!" Luke snapped at her. " Nirex, eh?" Jack asked, placing his long hands on his hips. "Well, Nirex, Luke, I'm Jack. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King. I welcome you to Halloween Town!" he boomed, outstretching his arms.

"Jack! Jack! What is it?" a voice came from behind Jack. The three of them looked up and noticed the Mayor. "Oh! Erm…who are they?" he asked, his happy face switching to his pale, distressed looking one on the other side of his head. "Mayor, this is Er--I mean, Nirex, and this is Luke, he said, pushing them forwards. "They're apparently visiting here. "Luke, Nirex, this is the Mayor of Halloween Town," said Jack.

Erin was not very good in social situations, so she got a bit nervous and the ground began to freeze around her. "Oh, crap." She murmured, hoping no one had noticed. But, unfortunately for she and Luke, Jack and the Mayor had noticed. Luke saw this too, and drew his sword as a precaution, and then hovered a few inches above the ground. Erin closed her eyes, and tried to shape the ice on the ground into a sword. However, unlike Luke's, who had a slim, fencing-type rapier, hers was like a large, icy scimitar. "Amazing!" Jack said, astounded. He placed his hands on her and Luke's shoulders. "You two are PERFECT for next year's Halloween!" he whispered excitedly. "But--wait! I think you should be introduced to the rest of the town first!" he said, interrupting Nirex and dragging them into the town square by their wrists.

"Listen, everyone! We have some VERY special guests here tonight from the mortal realm. Please welcome Luke and Nirex!" the Mayor boomed through his megaphone. The monsters of the town had gathered around Erin and Luke, murmuring excitedly as they saw Erin was continuously freezing the ground and Luke was hovering over it. They had both sheathed their swords. Although normally Nirex had preferred her throwing daggers, she was much better with a sword.

As fast and awkward as everything seemed to be happening, they both had to admit that they were happy here. For one thing, they were often ridiculed if they lost control of their powers, especially if it was near humans. Halloween Town, however, was the one place they were appreciated. After about twenty minutes, the crowd had gone back to its hubbub, but they often asked Erin and Luke questions about the human world. "Do you really drink…coffee?" a short witch asked Luke. "Umm…yeah, sometimes. But I don't like it." said Luke. The witch sneered with disgust as she went to talk to another witch.

Nirex, on the other hand, was getting much worse than Luke. Although she had the "patience of a saint" as an expression had said, she was ready to scream with frustration because a little boy with grayish skin and eyes sewn shut, apparently known as the corpse kid, was poking her with a stick and persistently asking her to create various objects made of ice. Suddenly, she looked up and noticed that Jack was slipping through the gate. Nirex tapped Luke on the shoulder, pointing to Jack. "Where's he going?" she asked. Luke just shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe we should follow him," said Luke. "Now it's time for the awards!" said the mayor, and the residents had all turned towards his direction. "Perfect timing." Nirex said. With that, the two of them slipped through the gates and followed Jack into the graveyard.

Persistently jumping from behind one tombstone to another, Erin and Luke watched as Jack took long, graceful strides through the cemetery. "What's he gonna do? Sing his lament about how tired he is of Halloween?" Luke said, snickering. "I dunno. Let's just wait and see. Shush!" Nirex snapped. She then tripped over a rock and fell flat onto her face, making a loud "thump" on the ground. Jack turned around, smiling. "Oh, hello Nirex. I knew someone had been following me. Is Luke with you?" he asked. "Yep," said Luke, coming out from behind the tombstone. " Sorry for...intruding." he said. "Actually, it's I who should apologize. I was hoping you'd get to meet the town, but I suppose I brought it down on you a bit fast on you, if you know what I'm saying." Jack explained to them apologetically. "Well, it was a bit fast on us." Nirex admitted. Jack nodded understandingly. " Anyway, there was someone I was hoping to introduce you to. Her name is Sally." Nirex and Luke exchanged looks, and then returned their gaze to Jack. "Where is she?" asked Nirex. "I'm not sure, but she said she wanted to see me after the celebration was over." said Jack. " Jack?" a timid voice came from behind them. They turned around to see a woman who appeared to be pale and stitched. Long, fiery red waist-length hair billowed as she moved her head. She donned a dress that appeared to have random, colorful patches all over it.

"Ah, Sally! There you are! Why did you need to see me?" Jack asked, walking up to her. "Jack, I'm glad you could come. Um, who are they?" Sally asked, referring to Luke and Nirex. "Oh, this is Luke, and this is Nirex," Jack introduced. "They're from the human realm, but they're…um...not to be rude, but are you in fact from the mortal realm? And, are you…human, exactly? " Jack asked them. "Well, yeah, we're from there. But we're not human. Jack saw what we can do, but I think it be easier shown than explained," said Luke, hovering a few inches above the ground. Nirex froze the ground again. Sally gasped. "Wow…that's incredible! But...are you elementals?" Sally asked. Luke and Nirex froze. "H-how did you know that?" Nirex asked, cautiously backing away. Jack just stared at Sally oddly.

"Well, when I was locked up by the Doctor, erm, my father if you look it from one point of view. He created me. His name's Doctor Finklestein, and he doesn't really like it when I leave his manor." Luke and Nirex nodded, waiting for Sally to continue. "Anyway, I was reading a book because there was nothing else to do. It listed supernatural species in it. I opened to this page in it, and found a page titled "Elementals". It said that, although not much was known about them, but they weren't among the human race. They looked like humans in spite of this, but they could control elements," she finished. "You seem to fit the description, and I never thought I would see them…until now." "Well, I guess that would explain a lot," said Luke.

"Well, that wasn't the reason why I was hoping Jack could come. Jack, I'm worried. For these past few days, it's been extremely quiet in the tree house, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel are nowhere to be seen. They might be planning something, more than mischief. You don't suppose they're trying to…bring _him_ back, do you?" Sally asked Jack desperately. "Hmm…this is suspicious. Perhaps I should investigate later tonight," Jack said, frowning. Nirex and Luke's eyes widened. Though they couldn't tell Jack or Sally how, they knew who Oogie was. "Jack? Are these yours by the way? When we were on our way here, we found them near this grove of trees," said Luke, taking the pair of sinister-looking dice out of his pocket. Jack and Sally's eyes widened. "What grove? Where did you find these?" Jack asked, bending low towards Luke and Nirex. "Okay…it started like this..." Erin continued to tell them about their school, and how they found the dice and grove of symbolic trees. They obviously needn't tell them about coming here.

"So, there was a grove of trees near your school in the mortal realm, and you found the dice there?" Jack asked, scratching the back of his skull. "Exactly," said Nirex. Jack looked around, and then huddled with Luke, Sally, and Erin. "Listen carefully, these dice belong to an evil monster. You must be on your guard at all times. Watch out for odd looking skeletons that try to attack you; along with ghosts, giant spiders, and three children dressed up as a devil witch, an-"

"We know who Oogie, Lock, Shock, and Barrel are," Nirex interrupted. Luke just slapped his brow, shaking his head. "Nice. You blew it." "Wait, but, how do you know about that?" Jack asked. "Are you sure you haven't been here before?" he asked. "Positive, but…we're really, really sorry, but we don't really know how to explain it. We just… do," said Luke. They worried that they would somehow ruin things and cause chaos, that it would destroy the reality by trying to explain it. Sally and Jack probably didn't even know what a movie was. "Well, even if you do know, I still advise you to be on your guard at all times," said Jack. "You should probably give me the dice for the time being, and stay with me," he suggested, hoping to protect them from Oogie if he was, in fact, coming back. With that, they hurried out of the graveyard, constantly looking around for any of Oogie's lackeys.

As they headed to Jack's house, thinking that no one besides them had knew of their conversation, they were terribly wrong, oblivious to three short figures hiding behind a tombstone. Each had pale skin, yellow eyes, and blue, thin lips. One by one, they jumped out after Jack, Sally, Luke, and Erin left. The first one was dressed completely in red, with electric red hair in the shape of horns and a mask resembling a devil. A short red devil tail constantly swished around behind him. He carried a plunger. His name was Lock. A figure similar to him jumped out right after Lock. This one, however, was dressed in a violet witch dress, carrying a broom. Purple stringy hair stuck out of her head stiffly, as if it hadn't been washed for months (though most likely, it had never been washed period). Her name was Shock. The last figure jumped out and stupidly fell flat on his face. He was the shortest. He had greenish hair, a mask, and indigo costume that was a poor resemblance of a skeleton, though it looked more like something between a monkey and a toad. His name was Barrel, and he was armed with a slingshot.

"Elementals with Mr. Oogie Boogie's dice, eh? Our master will be more than happy to here about this!" said Lock. "Let's go tell him right away!" Shock said. "He'll be so pleased, I bet he'll reward us, too!" said Barrel. With that, the three impish creatures scurried off towards a large, ominous tree house that looked as if it were about to fall over…


	4. Oogie, Spindle, and Gripe

Disclaimer- FINALLY! Spindle and Gripe make an appearance in this chapter! Anyway, I don't own Halloween Town, any characters from the _Nightmare Before Christmas_, Spindle, or Gripe. Someone who refers to himself as "Alfonso Guana" made them up, and the only contact I have with him is through his neopets username, generalguy333, and gaia name, Spindle333.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel jumped onto a large white creature heading towards their home. Actually, this creature was a bathtub that apparently had stout, clawed legs and could walk. It crawled towards a tree house that was built so crookedly and uneven, it looked as if it was going to collapse if a butterfly landed on it, like those houses Eyore had always attempted to build in those cheesy _Winnie the Pooh_ cartoons.

The bathtub stomped down a large tree root and into what seemed like a bottomless pit. It tromped through a door and into a dark room. It was cold, ominous, and uninviting, but it was what those three brats called home. "Mr. Oogie Boogie!" Shock shouted. Suddenly, a dark, smoky, almost shadowy substance formed apparently out of nowhere. It spun and rose, molding into the shape of a fat, ghostly monster. It opened its large, glowing yellow eyes.

Using stolen witch magic, the trio of pranksters had managed to once again resurrect Oogie, but he was not his former, bug-filled self. He was in his shadowy form. About two years ago, he had tried to kill and devour Sally and Santa Claus himself while Jack had tried taking over Christmas, but Jack had found Oogie's weakness by pulling a thread hanging loose on his burlap skin, ripping him open and spilling his insect-filled contents. A year after that, the trio had sewn Oogie back together. This allowed him to not only use Dr. Finklestein to create him an army of ghosts, skeletons, and giant spiders to invade Halloween Town, but had tried running over Santa with a train. Jack had once again defeated he and his army using the substance around his arm known as the "soul robber".

However, although Oogie had once again returned, he was extremely weak and needed something to return to his true, former self, perhaps something even stronger. "What do you want!" he boomed, causing the children to jump back in fright. "Mr. Oogie Boogie, mortals have arrived here, and they have your dice!" said Lock. Oogie grimaced. "Mortals! With my dice!" he once again boomed. "Hmm…. This could work out better than I thought. Bring me those brats immediatley!" The shadow began to vanish. The three snickered evilly, and then ran up to their tree house.

They gathered all sorts of axes, traps, and anything else they needed whenever their master had ordered them to kidnap someone or something. They began singing while gathering their supplies.

_Kidnap the Mutant Freaks,_

_Lock them up real tight,_

_Throw away the key and then_

_turn off all the lights!_

_First we're going to set some bait_

_Inside some nasty traps and wait;_

_When they come a-sniffing _

_We shall snap the traps and close the gates!_

_Wait I've got some better schemes, to catch these_

_Elemental things,_

_Let's put them in some boiling pots_

_And when they're done, we'll butter 'em up!_

_Kidnap the Mutant Freaks,_

_Chop them into bits,_

_Mister Oogie Boogie is_

_Sure to get his kicks!_

_Kidnap the Mutant Freaks,_

_See what we will see,_

_Lock them in cages and then, _

_Throw away the keys!_

With that, the bathtub trudged towards the town for Nirex and Luke's kidnapping.

"So, why exactly are the dice so important to him anyway?" Luke asked Jack as they walked towards his house, which apparently looked far more like a tower.

"To be honest, I really don't know, but gets VERY angry whenever he loses them, especially if they're in the clutches of someone else," Jack said flatly. "Which is why I'd suggest to you to be on your guard at all times." He pushed open the large, creaky gate to his home when Erin stopped and fell over, her hand splashing into a puddle and freezing it.

"Are you okay, Nirex?" Sally asked, bending low and offering a stitched hand to help her up, her auburn hair falling into her face.

"I'm fine, but does anyone else feel that?" Nirex said, brushing herself off.

"Feel what?" Sally asked, and then they had all felt it. Vibrations, more like very light footsteps.

"Odd…. it's rare when someone's about the town at this time of night," said Jack, narrowing his dark eye sockets. Suddenly, a bathtub with the trio jumped out from an alleyway, and the three brats leapt as high as their short legs allowed them to. "Lock! Shock! Barrel!" they shouted, removing their poorly- made masks.

"Oh, hello. And what would we be doing out at this hour?" Jack asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Oh, nothing," said Lock.

"You know, just out doing our usual pranks, Jack," Shock said angelically.

"Yeah! And kidnapping the elementals for Oogie!" said Barrel.

Lock rolled his yellow eyes and whacked him on the head with his plunger. "SHUDDUP!" he snapped. The three of them just stared at Jack sweetly, as if nothing had happened.

Jack frowned. "Did you happen to bring Oogie back again?" he asked sternly.

"No!" said Lock.

"Of course not! Why would we do that?" asked Shock.

"Yeah, we're busy on a secret mission to kidnap them for him. We brought him back with witch magic two weeks ago," said Barrel.

Lock and Shock bashed him on the head with their plunger and broom. "Barrel! Why don't you ever shut up! " Shock snapped.

Jack frowned. "Do you remember what happened the last time you brought him back?" he asked, walking towards them and bending low.

"For once I don't feel so short!" Luke whispered to Nirex, both giggling at this.

"Oh, we do remember in fact. Which is why…" the three said, each twirling their weapons. At this, skeletal hands burst out of the ground, and within seconds twisted looking skeletons came out of the ground. Each took a piece of themselves (literally) and began twirling them in the air, shrieking. "…we're not going to let it happen again!" Lock, Shock, and Barrel said, hopping in their bathtub. It began running towards Erin and Luke.

Jack was infuriated. The soul robber had begun hovering over his arm, like a snake ready to strike. Using it, he grabbed Erin, Luke, and Sally out of the crowd of corpses. "Sally! Get them out of here!" he said.

"Come on! Jack can take care of himself," said Sally, dragging Erin and Luke by their wrists.

"Wait! We can't just leave him! What if he can't after all?" Nirex asked, accidentally freezing Sally's arm. "Sorry," she said.

"It's fine, but it's not easy for the living to defeat the undead, even if you aren't-" Sally was interrupted when skeletons had surrounded them too, blocking the door to the Doctor's lab. "-human," she finished, looking very worried.

"Looks like we'll have to fight, then," said Luke, lunging with his sword and killing three skeletons in one blow. Erin nodded, about to do the same with her sword, but her scimitar was a bit too heavy for a full swing while she was being closed in.

"Oh, screw it!" She scowled and made her sword disappear. She closed her eyes for a moment, and within seconds a circle of icy shards in the shape of daggers floated in front of her. She opened her eyes and they seemed to fly out as if some invisible hands were throwing them. Each one pierced a skeleton, killing it immediately and vanishing. She then looked to another group and froze them solid with a wave of her hand. Luke grabbed Erin and Sally's hands and formed a small tornado around them, knocking some incoming corpses out of the way and allowing them to escape to help Jack, disappointed to realize that he had killed every single one surrounding him, shattered the walking bathtub, and now glared angrily at Lock, Shock, and Barrel.

"Get him! -Huh?" Lock said, removing his mask and looking around nervously.

"Where'd they all go?" asked Shock.

"See you later, Jack!" said Barrel. With that, they raced off. Jack just stood there, shaking his head.

"They may no longer have their transportation, but I have a feeling they'll return. Now, I'm glad you can defend yourselves, but I doubt there won't be even more powerful monsters next," he sighed, frowning.

"Well...what kind of monsters, exactly?" Luke asked, crossing his arms.

Jack pondered for a moment, scratching the back of his skull. "Giant spiders, fiery skeletons, things like that," said Jack. "You two should stay here until we can send you back to your realm. Sally, do you think the Doctor knows that you've been out again?" he asked.

"Oh no, he might!" Sally gasped.

"In that case, you should probably get back to his lab while it's still safe," Jack suggested.

Sally nodded. "Jack…I'll see you later then." She then ran off towards the Doctor's manor.

Erin and Luke trudged silently up Jack's narrow stairway. It almost hurt them to know they would in fact have to leave soon. Sure, some bug-filled burlap sack was out to get them for some stupid dice, but this was the one place they were actually appreciated for not being human and not being ridiculed for losing control of their powers. It was like a second home to them, even though they had only been there for a few hours.

* * *

"What! You couldn't do it!" Oogie boomed at Lock, Shock, and Barrel back in his lair.

"Well, Jack was protecting them, and they had powers, too!" said Barrel. Once again, he was whacked on the head by Lock and Shock, falling over.

"Why can't you ever shut up about something as important as this!" they yelled at the same time. They then dog piled on Barrel, continuing to beat him up and strangle him. Oogie slapped his brow, shaking his head.

"All of you SHUT UP!" he yelled, making the trio freeze in fear and humiliation.

"What do you mean they had…powers? AUGH! I should've known you three couldn't defeat brats like 'em. Why, all of you imbeciles could defeat Jack all working together! And chances are, these brats could be stronger than him!" he then put his hand, or what at least was supposed to be a hand under his chin, then grinned evilly. "I'll need someone with more….potential to get these brats to me. And I know just who. SPINDLE! GRIPE!" he boomed.

At the exact moment Oogie had said this, an explosion of purple smoke had come a few feet from behind Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Two figures emerged from it. One was tall and lanky, while the other was short and muscular. The tall one, known as Spindle, had blood red, slightly combed hair sticking out from beneath a black top hat. A long, black, almost cape like trench coat was around the slender figure fastened by a skull brooch. Hands as long as Jack's rested on top of a black cane with a skull on top.

The shorter creature, known as Gripe, had slightly different traits. His hair was brown and in almost spiky dreadlocks. A leather black jacket was over a white T-shirt. His long, muscular arms had spiky, metal wristbands on them. A black, studded belt with a skull on it held up a pair of baggy black jeans and zippered boots. Huge, dragon like wings protruded from his back.

Each creature's faces were difficult to describe, due to the fact that they couldn't be seen at all. They both wore white masks covering their entire faces, if they had any. Each mask had a toothy, evil-looking grin that was apparently doodled on, but the eyes were different. While Gripe's had normal, vertical holes for the mask and had a bluish glow of what might have been his eyes, Spindle's had horizontal slits with glowing red eyes behind them.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel rolled their eyes, trudging out of the room. Whenever their master wanted them to get something and they failed to do so, he would summon Spindle and his brother, Gripe, to finish the task. This, unfortunately for them, was happening more and more often, and they felt that the two brothers were beginning to replace them.

"What do you want this time?" Spindle asked coolly, twirling his cane in the air. Gripe just said nothing and crossed his arms, trying to be tough as he usually did.

"Kidnap those brats that those three stupidly failed to do so. They have something I may need. And get me those dice from Jack if you can. And while you're at those things…GET ME NACHOS!" Oogie demanded. While Gripe collapsed to the floor laughing, Spindle just slapped a clawed hand to his forehead.

"You're a shadow, almost a disembodied voice. How could you POSSIBLY be hungry!" he asked.

"GAHH! I don't know! I just am! Now get me some nachos!" Oogie boomed once again.

"As you wish," said Spindle. With that, he tapped his cane, and he and his brother vanished in another explosion of purple smoke.


	5. Jack's Folly

In the town square, a cloud of purple smoke appeared out of what seemed like nowhere. Two figures walked out of it. It was Spindle and Gripe.

"So… uh... why does Oogie want those kids, anyway?" asked Gripe.

"Hmm… What did the brat trio say again? Oh yes. They were elementals. Never heard of them," said Spindle. "Probably just wants new henchmen. And who knows? Maybe they'll actually be useful, unlike that Marrick idiot."

"Where are they? I wanna fry 'em!" said Gripe, as electric blue sparks ran up his arms.

Spindle just whacked Gripe with his cane.

"What was that for!" Gripe asked, rubbing his head with his hand from the blow.

"Imbecile. Oogie wants them alive. And I don't know where they are…" he stopped when he noticed Sally coming.

"Ah, good evening, Ms. Finklestein. I heard a rumor two newcomers have arrived. Do you know where they are or who they might be?" Spindle asked casually.

"Oh! Erm, h-hello. Haven't seen you around in a while," Sally said. "They're with Jack right now, and we were hoping we could get them back to the mortal realm tomorrow. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just curious," Spindle said coolly.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay. The d-doctor needs me." With that, Sally ran off, wondering who they were, how they knew her, and whether or not she should've told them.

If one was looking closely, Spindle's eyes seemed to have an odd shimmer to them, and even the face under his mask, if he had one, was smiling.

"Hmm…. this should be easier, yet more interesting than I had expected," He said.

"Whaddya mean?" asked Gripe.

"If they're with Jack, he's not going to leave them easily…unless, of course, the very girl that's most precious to him is kidnapped."

"Ohh…now I see what you're sayin'. Get necromancin'!"

"No."

"What?"

"Jack would then know it was Oogie. I better summon my…own minions."

Spindle then tapped his cane, and odd creatures appeared out of black puffs of smoke, surrounding the two.

They seemed to have flexible, black bodies. Their heads had a slight reptilian appearance, and electric green spikes came out from the back of their heads and down to their stubby tails. The pupils of their eyes were small, green glowing spirals. Huge, sharp-toothed grins were on their faces, but their mouths didn't actually change from that position…somewhat like Spindle and Gripe's masks. They had glowing green spirals on their chests. Their arms were long and lanky, and ended with three, long fingers. Blades resembling the heads of axes were on their arms. They didn't have any feet, just long, pointy legs. But the creepiest part of them was the fact that they had real mouths…on their stomachs. This was probably their working mouth, constantly open and looked ready to eat something. These were called the Soul Eaters, and their name said it all.

"Bring Sally to the old Holiday Leader cages. Make sure you leave her alive," commanded Spindle.

The Soul Eaters didn't actually walk, but seemed to jump and glide gracefully through the air towards Sally at their master's orders.

Luke sat in a chair and stared out Jack's window. Erin was half asleep. Jack was working away, trying to find out how to get Luke and Erin back to the mortal world.

"I have never been so bored in my life," complained Erin.

"Or hungry," said Luke, his stomach growling. "Jack, where's your kitchen?"

"Right through that hall, folks," Jack replied, pointing a bony finger through a doorway. Luke disappeared through the opening.

He came back a minute later with a box or six of something called "spider crisps."

"I don't care what I eat, I'm so hungry!" Luke said, opening a box of the snack. He looked inside. "Except if it's this." He poured the snacks into a bowl and dropped it when spider husks floated down.

Suddenly, Erin, Luke, and Jack heard a scream.

"Oh, sorry. That's my doorbell," explained Jack. "I'd better go answer it." The three followed Jack downstairs.

Jack opened the door to see the mayor, panting frantically, his upset face turned towards

them.

"Mayor? What is it?" Jack asked.

"Jack! Jack!" the Mayor gasped. "It's Sally! These…these mysterious creatures appeared out of nowhere…and took off towards the well…where Oogie's other lair is!

"What!" everyone shouted at the same time.

The Mayor nodded. "They tried to attack me too, but I…er…managed to get away quick enough. But why would they take her there!" he asked.

"I...I'm sure its nothing to worry about, Mayor. I'm sure these creatures…uh...didn't have bad intentions. You should get home and get some rest. I'll go look for her," Jack said.

"Good luck, Jack." With that, the Mayor waddled off.

"C'mon, lets go! We have to help Sally!" said Luke.

"No," said Jack, standing in Luke and Erin's way.

"And why not! She's our friend, too!" Erin said angrily.

Jack nodded. "I know, but this may be some kind of a trap of Oogie… and now that Lock, Shock, and Barrel know that you're with me, I don't think it'd be worth the risk letting you stay here while I rescue Sally." Jack put a long finger to his mouth, pondering for a moment. "I know! I'm sure Dr. Finklestein will let you stay with him!" seeming to like his idea, he grabbed Erin and Luke by their wrists and dragged them to the Doctor's tower. Zero floated behind them, looking worried.

Dr. Finklestein opened the door. "What is it! I'm in the middle of an experiment about the elementals!"

"Well, Doctor, speaking of which," said Jack, "I need you to take care of them while I go rescue Sally!"

"Sally went and got herself kidnapped again! Why, she will never be let out of the lab when you get her back!"

"Uh, right, well, be back soon!" Jack said quickly, and he shoved Erin and Luke through the door and hurried away.

"Follow me, then," The doctor sighed, and they went up to Sally's room.

Dr. Finklestein threw them into the room. "Humph. You can stay in here, then," He said, slamming the huge, iron door.

Luke pounded on it. "Let me out! I'm still hungry!" He shouted.

"My god, this is a total suck fest!" Erin said, angrily kicking the bed.

"No, you think?" Luke asked sarcastically, who finally stopped pounding on the door.

"Whatever. I'm not gonna be a sitting duck here while a friend is in trouble," Erin said angrily. She laid her hand on the window, which immediately began freezing as soon as it came into contact. She pressed harder and harder, until finally the window had shattered to a million pieces.

Greeeaatt…now he's gonna kill us!" Luke said angrily. "Besides, we don't have a way to get down!"

Erin just stared at him like he had a million heads.

"No! I'm not flying down! I haven't mastered it yet! And its only…"

"Just shut up and try it!" Erin said, pushing him out the window.

"Tempoooorrraaarryyyy!" Luke shouted as he fell.

Erin looked down, horrified and wondering if she would see Luke's corpse on the ground. She began looking over the ledge, but then gasped when Luke flew up in front of her.

"Ha-ha! Scared you! Scared you!" He shouted, laughing hysterically.

"Whatever. Just help me down." Luke offered his hand. She grabbed it, and they hovered gently to the ground.

"You never would've been able to do this, if I didn't break the window and pushed you," Erin laughed.

"Yeah, but I know you were scared. You probably thought I died or something, huh? Well, next time try not to push me out of a three story window!"

"Now that that's out of the way, lets go take care of those…elementals," said Spindle.

"Yeah, but what about Jack?" asked Gripe.

"What do you mean?"

"While Sally's down there, she might…find out somethin' and tell Jack, y'know?"

"Hmmm…for once, you actually have a point. We should take care of Jack immediately." At that moment, Jack came running down the street.

* * *

Jack ran through the town square, infuriated. If it was Oogie, it probably would've been those deformed skeletons or bugs or something that had taken Sally away. But the Mayor had called them mysterious creatures. Could it be someone else? Or was Oogie really back again this time? 

He was thinking about this when Zero stared at a certain spot and stared growling.

"Zero? What is it, boy?" Jack asked.

Suddenly, a Soul Eater appeared out of a small puff of black smoke. It was in a constant swaying movement, and it didn't look friendly. Then more of the creatures appeared, surrounding Jack. They each began silently gliding toward him.

"These might've been what kidnapped Sally!" said Jack, the soul robber moving above his hand like a snake ready to strike. He began to attack them, but it seemed no use. "These things are invulnerable!" he said angrily. Then he looked at the mouths on their stomachs. He attacked one getting close, the soul robber hitting smack in its stomach mouth. The creature twitched in and odd, itching movement, and then seemed to shatter into dust.

"I guess that's their weakness!" said Jack. Eventually, he had defeated every single one of the creatures. He stood hunched over, exhausted, even for someone undead.

"Say goodnight, Mr. Skellington," came a voice from behind him.

"Wha…!" Jack suddenly felt a huge pain on the back of his head, and collapsed to the ground, out cold.

"Where do you think we should put him?" Gripe asked Spindle.

"Somewhere far away. Probably in the graveyard. Ill go search for those children."

Gripe nodded, throwing Jack over his shoulder. "Be back in a bit." And with that, he flew off to the graveyard.

Spindle walked towards Jacks house when he heard footsteps. He then vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared behind the fountain.


	6. Marrick Logan

Erin and Luke ran frantically away from Finklestein's tower, laughing hysterically.

"That was fun!" said Erin.

"Riding the wind does that to you," agreed Luke.

Spindle watched these two suspiciously. They looked human, yet there was something…different about them. The boy ran extremely fast, possibly faster than he did, while the girl was freezing the ground wherever she walked! Perhaps these were the elementals!

He quietly tapped his cane, and the Soul Eaters once again appeared. "Bring them to Oogie's lair. I'd suggest you knock them out."

The creatures then surrounded Erin and Luke.

"What the hell are these!" Luke asked.

"Dunno, but that psycho look on their faces is creeping me out. Not to mention I don't remember them in the movie!"

For what seemed like eternity Erin and Luke tried holding the creatures back, and unfortunately weren't as quick as Jack to find their weakness. Spindle was getting bored of watching their terrible fighting attempts, and literally fell asleep out of monotony. Since he couldn't close his eyes, the red flicker seemed to vanish, making the mask look empty.

Luke and Erin had collapsed to the ground, and the creatures were now in such odd, swaying movements that they looked as if they were dancing around them. One of them jumped towards Luke, and he had tried to block it with his sword, but the creature seemed to stop in midair. They looked and noticed that something was wrapped around it- something that looked like a long, demonic tail. It pulled the creature away, threw it into the air, and then seemed to stab it in the mouth on its stomach, and it then looked as if it had literally shattered into dust. Then a horrible, high-pitched shrieking noise filled the air, somewhat like a bat using echolocation, only ten times louder. At this moment, all of the creatures turned into dust, but the noise was so high pitched that Luke and Erin were still covering their ears.

"You can uncover your ears now," said a voice sounding like a teenage boy.

They did so and looked up. A tall, teenage boy was in front of them. He had straight, black hair falling in front of face. A black tee shirt with white-and-black-striped-sleeves and a skull and crossbones was thrown over his torso. Baggy black pants were on his legs. However, they noticed that he was far from human. In fact, he looked like a giant bat with hair, human clothes, and a long, demonic tail. He blew a wisp of hair out of his face, and they noticed that his eyes were blood red and had slit-like pupils, like a cat or a reptile. His feet were bare, and long with claws. The fur covering him was gray. Huge, brown bat-like wings stuck out of his arms, surprisingly not necessarily ripping his sleeves, as they realized the sleeves seemed to be slitted and made for his wings. He had hands, but they were extremely long and clawed, each with only four fingers, like Jack.

He smiled, showing very sharp fangs, but only for a moment.

"Uh, th-thanks. Who are you exactly?" Erin asked.

"Name's Logan, Marrick Logan, and I'm a gargoyle…sort of. I can't stay long, as I have a bad reputation here, but if you see the Soul Eaters again…"

"Soul eaters?" asked Luke.

Marrick rolled his eyes. "Those things that attacked you. Anyway, if you encounter them again, hit 'em in their stomach mouths. Also, look out for two guys who call themselves Spindle and Gripe. Spindle's a really tall guy with a top hat and a freaky mask. Same with Gripe, only he has bat wings on his back. He looks sorta punkish. I have to go. Bye!" and he ran off into the shadows.

"That guy was weird. Too bad we didn't get to introduce ourselves," said Erin.

"C'mon, lets get back to the house before Jack gets back," said Luke. They began walking towards the house when Luke turned around and noticed a guy who was hunched over and sleeping. He wore a weird mask that was made of some hard material, but not really plastic or metal. Luke smiled when he found a black magic marker in his pocket. "Time for vandalism," He snickered, taking it out. He walked towards the guy and poked him, realizing he was definitely asleep.

"Luke! What are you doing! Get back here!" Erin said angrily through gritted teeth.

"Relax. I'll be right back." He took the marker and snickered while drawing a mustache on the guy's mask.

"Luke!"

"Just a minute! He then drew an eye patch, backing away and smiling when he was done. Then his face went pale. "I-it's the Spindle guy! Nirex! We have to get away! Why didn't you say something!"

Erin just stared at him annoyingly.

"Oh," was all Luke could say.

The red flicker returned to Spindle's eye slits, and he shook his head groggily. He then touched his mask, noticing that there was black marker on it. He looked up and saw a boy holding a marker in his hand, his eyes staring at him like a zombie. He stood up and looked at his reflection in the fountain. That is, if you could see anything in that green water. He wiped off all of Luke's doodles.

"Now, that's not very nice, going around and drawing on people who are asleep," he said to Luke. "You two don't look like you're from around here. Ah! But I did hear that there were newcomers. What are you names? Are you dead or something else?"

"Why should we tell…" Luke stopped in mid-sentence and closed his eyes, clutching his head, looking as if Marrick was shrieking again. He opened his eyes, and Erin walked over and noticed that only the whites of his eyes showed, as if he was blind or possessed.

"My name is Luke, and this is my friend, Erin. We are living, but we are not human. We are elementals." Strangely, the way he said it, it seemed like he had no emotion, as if he were a puppet or some kind of zombie.

"And what, may I ask, is an elemental?"

"They are-"

"Luke! Snap out of it!" Erin yelled angrily. Her hand looked as if it was frozen, and she whacked Luke across the head with it.

"Ow!" he said, and this time, he seemed to be back to his normal self. "N-Nirex? What the hell…! The Spindle guy!"

Erin just rolled her eyes, dragging Luke by the wrist and running away.

"That creep put you in some kind of weird trance thingy. You told him who we are and that were elementals!"

"I did? Shit!" Luke said as they were running.

Spindle just sighed. He tapped his cane. A few seconds later, he appeared in front of Erin.

"Boo," he said, quietly yet maliciously.

Erin was surprised, but not intimidated. Before she realized what happened, Spindle grabbed her and whacked her in the head with his cane. A few seconds later, all she could see was darkness. Spindle picked up the unconscious Erin and sunk into an odd, shadowy substance in the ground.

"Nirex!" Luke shouted, diving for Spindle. But it was too late. Spindle had already sunk into the ground and was consumed by the shadowy substance. He had to find Jack. He'd know what to do. He kept running at the speed of wind into the residential area of Halloween Town. Going back to Jack's house would be too dangerous at the moment.

Spindle reappeared next to the fountain. He had already put Erin in one of the cells. It was probably the best place for her…for now.

A few moments later, Gripe flew down next to him.

'Took you long enough. Where'd you put that bonehead?" Spindle asked.

"In a cave near Spiral Hill. Did you get the freaks?" Gripe asked.

"The girl, but they're both stronger than I had anticipated. She figured out how to resist my hypnotism. But the boy is simple-minded yet quick. He ran into the residential area. I'm going back to watch Sally and that other brat. Erin, the boy had called her." With that, he vanished once again in his purple puffs of smoke.

Grinning under his mask, Gripe beat his wings and flew into the air, searching for Luke. He saw him running on the rooftops of the Towers of Torment.

"Awright, give it up, chump! You're now property of the boss! I _might_ just make it painless if you cooperate!" he yelled. He snapped his clawed fingers and black, shadowy tentacle like things appeared out of the ground.

Luke quickly avoided them, but his eyes widened in shock when he saw Gripe, beating his wings and hovering a few feet above the ground in front of him. To make matters worse, he was going too fast to turn around, so he had to fight. He ran even faster, and with swipes of his sword sliced some of the tentacles in half.

"Think you're smart! Try this!" Suddenly, the odd blue sparks ran up Gripe's arms again, and he blasted Luke with a streak of lightning.

"Aghh!" Luke yelled, thrown back by the force of the attack. The sparks seemed to run up him, and his whole body burned like hell. He couldn't move, and the tentacles rapped tightly around him.

Gripe walked over to him.

"I told ya that it'd be painless if you cooperated, but we didn't cooperate now, did we?" he said, chuckling darkly. Everything went black.


	7. Ominous Awakenings

Jack drowsily opened his eye sockets, finding himself to be against the wall of what had appeared to be a cave of some type. He saw that Zero was nudging him persistently, whimpering loudly.

"Ow…Zero, Wh-where are we, boy?" he groaned, placing his bony hand on the back of his skull, which had a constant throbbing pain. The last thing he remembered was attacking some freakish creatures and hearing such an awfully familiar voice saying, "say goodnight, Mr. Skellington", and then all he could see was darkness. He shook the grogginess out of his head and remembered.

"Oh no! Where are Luke and Erin?" he said aloud, bolting upright. He looked around, remembering this cave that was near spiral hill.

"C'mon, Zero! We've got to get to the Doctor's!" Dashing out of the cave, he began to hurry through the graveyard and into town. He had to get to Doctor Finkelstein's!

After a few minutes, Jack burst through the door of Finklestein Tower, too much in a hurry to actually ring the bell. In spite of being undead, he panted as if he could breath, since he had to go through many skeletons along the way. At least he didn't have to fight those strange creatures along the way!

"Doctor!" he called out, running up the ramp. He was worried that the Doctor's brain may have been converted again. What concerned him all the more was that there was no response to his calls. Finally reaching the top of the ramp, he took a small elevator that went up to the Doctor's Nightmare Lab.

Jack gasped when he saw what was in the lab. It was completely trashed! Books were torn, tables were turned, and potions were smashed, which made him have to jump across the room in order to avoid all of the sulfuric acid spilled on the floor. The Doctor was knocked over in his chair, groaning and trying to get up.

"Doctor! Are you all right? What happened? Where are Luke and Erin?" he asked, helping the Doctor up.

"Jack! They're gone! I was just checking on them, as I had kept them in Sally's room, but they weren't there and the window had been smashed to pieces! I was surprised to not see any of their corpses on the ground. But that's not important!" said the Doctor, opening his head and scratching his brain.

"When I returned to the lab, odd creatures suddenly appeared out of nowhere! They attacked me, and that's all I can remember. Someone, or something bashed me on the head and I was out like a light! I wonder what they wanted?" He wheeled over to a table, cursing under his breath.

"Darn it! Whoever they were, they've stolen every single book I had on the elementals!"

"Erm…just calm down, Doctor! I'm going to find them and Sally!" Jack said. He ran out the door and down the ramp.

He couldn't believe it! Why hadn't the Doctor been more careful? But, then again, the Doctor only cared about Sally and his experiments. He should've left them with someone more reliable! Then he realized that those creatures, no matter where they stayed, probably would've kidnapped them anyway.

But why were they so interested in Luke, Erin and him? He was sure that Oogie had something to do with this!

"Zero, lets go where Oogie was last year!"

Zero merely barked in agreement, a determined look on his face. With that, they hurried into town.

"So…_these_ are elementals?"

"We wouldn't have gone through all the trouble had they not been, Oogie."

"Humph. They sure are ugly and puny!"

Luke dazedly opened his eyes. He heard the voices slightly muffled at first, but then he could understand them clearly. Everything was a bit blurry to him, too, but it all came into focus. He recognized the second voice. It was Spindle's. But the first voice…he had heard it before, but he had never thought he'd hear it in reality. It was loud and booming.

He realized that voice belonged to none other than Oogie Boogie himself!

His arms hurt very much, and he noticed that they were being held above his head in shackles. He also noticed that he was in a cage of some type, and each was a symbol of a holiday, just like the trees. Then he realized it didn't make sense- why did they put him in shackles _and_ a cage? He also noticed that there were shackles on his feet, too. Did they have to imprison him _that_ much?

Spindle and Oogie weren't facing him. Their backs were turned, and they were facing Erin, who was in a cage that represented a Fourth of July firecracker. She was still out of it, but she was also in shackles.

He then realized that something was poking his arm, and realized that it was a stick. He looked up and noticed that the guy who blasted him was poking him with a long, dead twig. He remembered Marrick saying something about this guy, Spindle's brother. What was his name again? Oh yeah, Gripe.

"Knock it off!" he snapped at Gripe, trying to tug at his bound wrists, realizing how heavy the shackles were.

"Hey, guys! This one woke up!" Gripe shouted. He finally stopped poking Luke.

Oogie and Spindle turned around. That freaky glow in Spindles eyeholes seemed to glow slightly brighter.

Grinning, Oogie walked over to Luke.

"Well, well, well. This one's even punier and uglier than the other!" he boomed at Luke.

"Shut up! You'd better let us go or you don't want to know what I'll do to you!" Luke raged through gritted teeth. He tugged as hard as he possibly could, but it was as if the shackles got heavier the more he did so. He finally gave up, panting heavily. The others just laughed mockingly.

"I told you to shut up, fat ass!" he said again.

Oogie just growled, kicking the cage. "Nobody insults mister Oogie Boogie!"

Spindle's eyes glowed again, and Luke began to get the headache he got before.

"Stupid, pathetic boy," he said maliciously.

"Stop it! Leave him alone, you jerk!" came a voice from behind them. They all turned around and noticed that Erin was finally awake. "Stop it! Before I turn you all into Popsicles!"

She clenched her fists, which began to turn to ice as they usually did when she was going to attack, but then her shackles suddenly caught fire. Only the shackles were burning, but no matter how hard she tried to freeze the cage bars, the ice just melted, and she got weaker every second. She had finally stopped, and the flames vanished.

"If you don't stop it, then when I get out of this cage…I'll…you'll…" Erin could hardly catch her breath.

"Hmm…very well," Spindle sighed. The glow in his eyes dimmed and Luke gasped for air when the migraine ended.

Spindle then took his cane and pushed Luke's head against the wall forcefully.

"But this should teach you a lesson of knowing your place and respecting your superiors." He took his cane and walked away, looking at the book he was holding, which was entitled _Supernatural Beings: A Scientific Guide to the Anatomy of Elementals_.

"Hmmm…the old man's book is right. Placing a spell of the opposite element on their bindings seems to weaken them…" he murmured.

"Normally I'll just play with my victims, but I'm feelin' nice today and I suppose I'll give you a choice," said Oogie, standing in the center of the room. "I'm gonna take this Town from that bonehead Jack if it's the last thing I do! But of course…" he chuckled. "My army of the undead wasn't enough for that idiot. But what if I had Elementals on my side?" He then rolled his dice, which he apparently had taken from Luke while he was unconscious.

"Listen, either you help me take the town away from the Pumpkin King, or it Oogie might turn into Boogie!"

If you think we're going to work for you, you're just plain insane!" Luke shouted angrily, now getting at some of his energy back.

Oogie just laughed evilly…again. "Me? Insane? Ha! I'm just hungry! I wonder if an elemental is as tasty and fun to play with as a human?" He rolled his dice once again.

"Master Oogie, you should probably spare them for the moment. They may have some other uses after all. Let me look through more of this book on the elementals," Spindle said coolly.

Oogie pondered for a moment. "I guess they could be lackeys of some other type. And, if not, then I'll be havin' some fun!" With that, he and Spindle walked out of the room.

"Gripe! Watch them! God help you if I find you asleep!" Spindle snapped at Gripe.

"Ooh! Can I fry 'em?" Gripe asked. Luke shuddered as the sparks ran up Gripe's arms.

Spindle just whacked him across the head with his cane.

"Ow!" cried Gripe.

"Imbecile! Weren't you listening? We may need them later, and I don't think they'd be useful dead."

Then they left, and Gripe just stood in the center of the room, crossing his muscular arms as he watched Luke and Erin. He then sent the sparks up his arms just to intimidate Luke, who flinched.

Erin wondered if they would ever leave here… alive.


	8. Ohcysp

Rawr! I gotta stop taking so long on the chapters...anyhow, I actually got this done a looooooong time ago, but then Luke, in spite of how luffly he is, took forever and a half to edit it...then I had this retarted problem whereas it wouldn't let me upload any documents for a few days. But, here it is :-D

* * *

Sally had been helpless to do anything this entire time, yet she had witnessed the entire thing. Although she was a simple rag doll, those creatures had knocked her out cold. Her arms were torn off, which was most likely the work of the soul eaters…or perhaps Spindle or Gripe. She was almost furious with herself, wondering why she didn't say something like Nirex had when Spindle was torturing Luke.

She looked up, noticing that Gripe was asleep against his older brother's orders. She then heard tiny footsteps and backed into the shadows of her cell, waiting to see what would happen.

Predictably, it was Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Barrel stupidly tripped and fell on his face, where his friends then scolded him.

"Quiet! Do you wanna wake him up?" Shock snapped.

Luke and Nirex groggily opened their eyes, watching. Gripe slightly twitched and murmured something about donuts, then went back to sleep.

Rolling his yellow eyes, Lock picked three keys out of Gripe's pocket and ran over to Luke's cell. He took a small silver key and opened the cell, then unlocked Luke's shackles. Luke gripped his wrists, trying to get the blood flowing again.

"Thanks," Luke said, smiling at the short little redhead. Then he remembered who he was talking to. His brow furrowed and he glared at Lock with suspicious hazel eyes. "Wait a sec…why are you doing this?" he asked, not necessarily understanding what their intentions were.

"It's not fair!" Shock said in a whiny voice while she opened Nirex's cell and shackles with a small red key. "We were Mr. Oogie Boogie's favorites…but then those stupid brothers had to come and ruin everything! Over the years he started favoring them, just because they were the ones who summoned an army of bugs to take over the town and they switched that stupid Doctor's brain…along with a lot of other stuff. So, if we free you weirdoes, then Master Oogie will think that the brothers are slacking off, and we'll be his favorites again!" Barrel then opened Sally's cell with what looked like a normal key.

Nirex shook her head and saw Sally.

"Sally? I didn't know that they captured you, too!" she said, running over to her.

"I'm okay. I should've told you! I think that Spindle and Gripe are planning to do something to you. Something bad. But I don't think it's feeding you to Oogie."

"What?" Nirex asked quietly. But then Barrel was being stupid again, and at the worst time. He decided to pull a prank on his rival. He had noticed that Gripe was having a nightmare. His arms had the blue lightning running up and down them. He used his mask to scoop up some greenish-looking water running from a crack in the wall. He placed it on the ground and dipped Gripe's hand in the water. Naturally, this woke up Gripe (with flying colors, too) and even induced an "ooh, pretty!" from Shock.

Gripe picked up the mask and snapped it in half, then charged the pieces with electricity and threw them at Barrel.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? You tried to defeat me with my own power? No wonder Oogie doesn't like you as much as my brothers and me. You're way too stupid!" Gripe shouted angrily at the group.

While Luke was about to fly out (as this was right below the dried up fountain in Halloween Town), Gripe actually thought for once and blasted the cage-like contraption that lowered into it. At this, Luke grabbed Nirex and Sally, trying to fly out with them, but Gripe grabbed Nirex's ankle and tugged her out of his grasp.

"Luke! Sally! Get out of here! Get Jack or something! I'll just slow you down!" she shouted.

"Shut up, you little brat!" Gripe said, covering her mouth with his clawed hand.

"No! Erin!" Luke shouted. "Get off of her, you son of a—" Gripe then blasted him with some blue lightning. Although he managed to dodge it while airborne, the force of it knocked he and Sally out of the well.

"Erin!" he shouted, tears running down his cheeks. As soon as he was blasted into the Town Square, the well collapsed, covering the hole in rubble.

"Dammit!" he said out loud, slamming his fist into the ground.

Meanwhile, Gripe threw Nirex over his shoulder and was putting her back into her cell.

"Let go of me! Let go!" she shouted, pounding him with an icy knuckle into his back. Although he flinched, he didn't let go. Suddenly, a black, shadowy substance formed in the ground. Spindle's dreadful form slowly emerged from it. The glare from his eye slits was very bright, and somehow she could tell that he was frustrated.

"What the blazes was that infernal racket?" he demanded, tapping his cane as the substance below him vanished. He didn't shout, but his tone was anything but pleased.

"Well…uh…it was their fault!" Gripe said stupidly, pointing to Nirex, Lock, Shock, and Barrel.

"What was their fault?" Spindle's tone slightly louder and angrier.

"The midget air elemental and that rag doll escaped!"

Spindle clenched his fists. An odd crimson glow surrounded his body, and the glow in his eyes was all the more brighter. "What? How could you let them escape, you insolent idiot?"

"Well…the brat trio let them out!" while Gripe and Spindle were bickNirexg, Nirex took this moment to escape. She sunk her teeth deep into his shoulder.

"Ow!" he shouted, dropping her to the ground.

"Guys! Let's get out of here!" she told Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Shock nodded and shoved the group through the Christmas tree cell.

"Hey! Stop trying to escape!" Gripe ran after them, but then stupidly onto his face after Spindle tripped him with his cane.

"Don't bother. There's an old friend in there…" Spindle's eyes gleamed, but this time it was due to maniacal glee.

"Whaddya- oh! Ohcysp…he'll take care of 'em," Gripe laughed.

"This leads to a secret way to the town square. That Pumpkin Puss used it to get there after he beat one of Oogie's shadows," Shock explained, dragging Nirex through a narrow corridor.

"Oh…my…god!" Nirex looked over the ledge of a walkway of some type, only to look at what may have been mistaken for hell itself. Lava boiled and bubbled at the bottom of this vast room, along with several contraptions and traps shaped like skeletons, playing cards, and various shapes found in casinos such as spades and diamonds. The intensive heat made her feel like she wanted to vomit out her intestines, and she couldn't even freeze anything. The trickster trio guided her onto various floating odd platforms shaped like spades and skeletal hands, until they had finally reached the mouth of some sort of cave which ironically was shaped like a mouth.

"Here it is," said Lock as they walked through. Nirex was relieved, as the new room was far cooler than that of the lava maze. It looked like a giant glowing roulette wheel, like the one Oogie used in the film during his song that he sang while he held Santa hostage.

However, rather than the large, yellow, spiky contraption in the center, a large hole was there instead.

"It'll take you through the fountain, so prepare to get wet." Barrel snickered.

"But you better not tell anyone that we helped you! Or everyone'll think we're nice!" Shock said, stomping her small foot.

Nirex was about to protest for some odd reason, but then she thought the better of it and shook her head.

"Okay. I won't." However, she was then stopped from jumping into the hole when an odd, shadowy substance formed over it.

"Going somewhere?" a deep voice asked.

"Oogie! Leave us alone already!" Nirex shouted at the darkness, clenching her icy fists.

Oogie just laughed. "Ooh! A little ice elemental! How scary! Bwahahahaha!"

Gritting her teeth, Nirex gave him the middle finger and blasted some icy shards at Oogie, only to fail miserably as the ice went through him like air.

"Sorry, doll, But you'll have to have fun with me later…when I'm rolling in your power! But if you wanna play some games now, I think I should introduce you to a new little friend. One I haven't seen in years. Oh, Ohcysp!"

Another spiral of shadow appeared next to Oogie. A figure emerged from it like Spindle had. However, this one was different. On its head was slightly moppy, black, untidy hair. It wore a mask with a maniacal grin on its face like Spindle and Gripe, although its slits went vertical. The glow in its eyes was a bright yellow, and the smile had bigger, sharper teeth. A large crack came down the center of it. Ohcysp was about as tall as Oogie, and he had two extremely small red batlike wings on his back. A long, white, tattered lab coat covered his lanky figure.

However, the freakiest traits were at his fingertips. He had three, extremely long claws on each hand that seemed to drag down to the ground.

"I'd love to watch, but I think I need to teach some people about respecting their masters!" said Oogie, now glaring angrily at Nirex, Lock, Shock, and Barrel. He then grabbed them by their necks. "You guys have fun! Bwahahahaha!" and with that, he waltzed out the door.

Ohcysp towered over Nirex, his eyes glowing and staring at her like a child on Christmas morning that had gotten the best present ever.

"So…you're the little girl my baby brother Spindy told me about…. The one who simply can't cooperate and do what she's told! And to think that you tried to run off like that silly boy did…" he chuckled evilly and stepped on a button, activating the casino.

"Stay a while! Don't be rude! I'd love to have a playmate like you…we should have fun like Oogie said to!".


	9. Drastic Measures

Jack had been running for some time now, and then he stopped. He was satisfied when he saw Sally. And even happier when he saw Luke. However, the absence of Erin had concerned him all the same

"Sally!" he ran over and hugged his love. " What happened?"

"Jack!" the rag doll returned Jack's hug. "Luke saved me!….but…Erin…she's still down there!" she looked up at him.

"That son of a…Gripe got her! God damn it! why the hell couldn't I save her too?! he's probably killing her right now…or worse…" Luke slammed his fist down into the ground. He felt like crying, yet still wanted to remain tough. He could hardly believe….all in one Halloween night, he had lost his best friend…and now he hadn't the slightest way how to get back to her.

"Luke! come on!! it wasn't you fault!" Sally said, bending down to try to consult the boy, which may have well rendered useless.

Jack just stood there. His bony hand cracked as it curled into a fist with rage. He wasn't even in the slightest mood to show any remorse for Oogie…at least not this time. He had kidnapped Sally for a fourth time, had once again tried to take over Halloween Town, and to top it all, kidnapped an innocent little girl. Sure, he hadn't even known her for a day yet, but he was eager to help his newfound companions.

"Luke…I'm doing you a favor."

The wind elemental looked up, a tear traveling down his cheek. "W-what?"

"You rescued Sally….it's time I do something for you. I'm going to rescue Erin no matter what. And whether you like it or not, you're not coming."

"What! why not?"

" Not obeying me is what got you in this mess in the first place….Besides, how do I know you won't get captured again?" Jack seemed to state this with a slight tone of impatience.

"But she's my best friend!" Luke was crying with anger all the more.

At this, Jack looked down, sighing. Sally reached into the hem of her dress, taking out a small bottle. "Luke, why don't you drink this to calm you down."

For some reason, Luke unhesitantly did as he was told, chugging every last drop. He wasn't necessarily sure why he did so, and then immediately began to regret it. He felt drowsy, blinking, and then fell asleep.

Jack stared at Sally, surprised at her actions. He never thought he'd see the day when Sally would feed deadly nightshade to someone other than Dr. Finklestein for a purpose other than escape.

"Jack…Maybe you're right. Don't worry, I'll t-take him back to the lab. But, don't you think it's dangerous down there?" She wobbled a bit as she picked up Luke.

"It's only as dangerous there as it was the last time. Now all I have to do is open this well back up…"

"Oh please, bony. You really think that's gonna work?"

At this, they both whipped around. A silhouette of a large, bat-like creature stood a few feet away from them. His blood red eyes glared back at Jack's empty sockets. "You really don't have a brain. But…lucky for you, I happen to know another way to that bug-bastard's lair."

The Pumpkin King narrowed his sockets. "Who are you?"

"Jack! No! He was once a henchman of Oogie!" Sally shouted, gripping Jack's arm.

"What?"

"Heh heh heh heh….Hee hee hee….YEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE!!!!" Ohcysp was laughing like a maniac, which of course, he was one anyway, but then he paused to a dramatic coughing fit, then laughed some more. Erin, at the moment, hunched over, coughing up scarlet blood, yet nonetheless it was extremely cold. Starting the brawl, he had slashed her arm vertically, and at the moment, involuntary tears streamed down her face. She felt strangely dizzy and weak at the moment as well, and she wondered if there was some kind of poison in his claws.

"What's the matter, little freak! Too weak and tired to play with me? What a shame! At least try some cards." Ohcysp stepped on another button, thus activating the playing cards she had seen so long ago in the movie, spinning their swords as fast as Luke maneuvered his. She couldn't form an icy sword out of thin air. Too anime-esque. She'd have to base it on something….and these cards were perfect. She froze one of them, bringing its actions to a hault. Proceeding this, she yanked out its scimitar, gripping its hilt tightly so that the icy substance ran up it, giving it a very sharp appearance.

"Fine. I'll play with you." Then she had an idea. She merely let her newly-made sword touch his claws, and ice ran up them rapidly.

Ohcysp just chortled out obnoxiously. "This is a nice feeling,. What's next? a rabbit out of a hat?!" he let the ice consume his entire body, and then cracked it, as if it had no effect. "Come on! I'm ready for more!"

As for the next few moments, it was endless clanging of a sword and several claws….but Erin was eventually getting tired. There was definitely a poison of some type in them. He then stepped on another button, which activated those slot-machine like bandits with guns. She shielded herself from the bullets with ice, but it was getting thinner. one of them smashed through it like glass, grazing her shoulder. She winced, but she shook her head. Then she realized…his mask! what about his mask?! she ran up to it, grabbed it, and tired to yank it off his face.

"EEEYYYAAHH!!!! LET GO!!! LET GO!!!!" he screamed, flailing his long arms drastically.

"I will if you let me go!" she yelled, gripping tighter.

Suddenly, although Erin was oblivious to it, Spindle appeared behind her, suddenly yanking her off his elder brother.

"That's enough!" he yelled, his eyes glowing darkly. He put his cane to her throat, and pressed a button, ejecting out a small blade at its tip. With his other hand, he took out a hankerchief. "I think it's time you've taken another nap." he put it to her mouth tightly. It smelled like some sort of odd substance, and herb of some type.

"Goddamn….not agaaaii…." she fainted into Spindle's arms.

"I…I told you ground up deadly nightshade works well on humans….even nonmortal ones." Ohcysp said, laughing slightly. He still, however, sounded badly hurt.

"Yes well…she's found out our weakness. I think it's time we've put this cat on a tight leash. When her power's gone, who knows what could happen. Maybe she'll become human and she can become a slave or something. Is the machine ready yet?"

"I just finished it before Oogie…called for me."

"Excellent then. That bag of bugs can at least freeze a few things." with that, Spindle laughed malevolently, tapping his cane. A soul eater appeared, and he threw her into it's arms. "Make sure she doesn't' escape. Get the machine ready.

It nodded, a twisted grin on its face. vanishing into a black puff of smoke, taking Nirex to what could be her doom

Note: I'm going to change a few things back in the chapters. I promise I won't take this long anymore to type them up. After doing some thinking, randomly creating swords and daggers when one feels like it is kinda…to animeish, and I was hoping this could be pretty realistic. I hope no one minds I'm changing this.


End file.
